Mr. Speaker, the last time the House debated the matter, much was said about the fairness and administration of summary trials in the military justice system.
I served in the military, including in Afghanistan, and I would point out that Justice LeSage's review concluded that:
The summary trial system is vital to the maintenance of discipline at the unit level and therefore essential to the life and death work the military performs on a daily basis.
He also concluded that:
—regarding the constitutionality of the summary trial process, I am satisfied, as was former Chief Justice Dickson, that “the summary trial process is likely to survive a court challenge as to its constitutional validity”.
Given the strong endorsement for the place of summary trials in the military justice system by Justice LeSage, will the opposition support the government in passing this key piece of legislation at second reading so that it can be studied in greater detail at committee?
In view of the urgency of this matter, I think we should go forward.